


August Is Over

by eternaleponine



Series: From the Mouths of Babes [5]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Day of School, Foster Care, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 23:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14681511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternaleponine/pseuds/eternaleponine
Summary: The summer is over, and it's time to go back to school... or to school for the first time, in Lexa's case.  But she can face anything as long as Clarke is at her side, right?





	August Is Over

"Lexa?"

Lexa looked up from the book she'd been reading – not Harry Potter because Anya was still reading it to her every night, and she wouldn't read ahead no matter how much she wanted to, even though Anya said she wouldn't mind – and sat up straighter, looking around as if to check that she hadn't been doing anything wrong, even though she knew she hadn't. "Yes, Miss Becca?"

"This one's for you." Miss Becca held out an envelope to her.

Lexa frowned and didn't reach for it. Why would _she_ be getting mail? Who would send her anything? No one was even supposed to know she was here... Her stomach knotted and she hunched over slightly, eyeing the envelope warily. 

Miss Becca looked at her, then took another step into the room and set the letter down at the foot of Lexa's bed. "It's just the letter that says who your teacher is for next year," she explained. "I thought you might want to open it yourself." 

"Oh," Lexa said. She reached for it slowly, still not sure whether she wanted to open it or not. They'd never gotten the results of those tests she'd taken, or if they had, Miss Becca had never told her what they were. What if she'd failed and they put her in kindergarten like Octavia had said they might, since she'd never been to school before? Anya said there was no way that that would happen, that kids in kindergarten didn't even know how to _read_ so she was definitely ahead of them, but that didn't mean that they might not still decide she needed to start from the beginning and learn things the right way this time.

"You could take it over to Clarke's," Miss Becca suggested. "I'm sure she got her letter today, too."

"Maybe," Lexa said with a shrug. "Maybe when I finish this chapter."

"All right," Miss Becca said. "Whenever you're ready." She patted Lexa's knee, and Lexa made herself stay still and not flinch away. 

_Never let them see that you're afraid._ That was one of the rules, and she used to be good at following it but she was getting worse because she didn't have to practice as much. 

She finished the chapter she was reading, and then the next, and the one after that. (They were short chapters, so it was easy to keep saying, 'Just one more' without admitting that she was avoiding doing what she knew that she had to do.)

"Lexa! Door!" Anya's voice came up the stairs, and she would probably get told off for shouting, but that never stopped her. "It's Clarke!"

Lexa's stomach did a little flip, and she stuck her bookmark into her book and set it carefully on her nightstand, then picked up the letter from the end of her bed and went downstairs. Clarke was standing just inside the door, cheeks flushed and hair wild, having escaped every effort to keep it tamed into pigtails. She waved an envelope just like Lexa's. "Did you open it?" she asked. "What does it say?"

"I didn't open it yet," Lexa said. 

Little lines formed between Clarke's eyebrows and the corners of her mouth tipped down. "Why not?"

"I was waiting for you," Lexa said, which was a lie but not a lie at the same time. "So we could open them together." 

The frown disappeared and Clarke's face lit up. "Oh! We should do it in the treehouse! Can you come over?" 

"Let me—"

But Miss Becca must have overheard them, because she called from the kitchen, "Go ahead. Have Dr. Abby or Mr. Jake call me if you're not going to be back here for dinner." 

"I will," Lexa said. "Thank you, Miss Becca." 

"Thank you, Miss Becca!" Clarke echoed, and then grabbed Lexa by the hand and pulled her across the street, stopping only long enough to look both ways before crossing. 

They clambered up the ladder and into the treehouse where they had spent pretty much all of their time together since it had been built. Sometimes they invited Octavia to join them, and Anya had come up once or twice, but mostly it was just the two of them, and Lexa liked it that way. It was peaceful, and she didn't feel like she had to try as hard to be normal when it was just her and Clarke. If she said something that was weird, Clarke didn't look at her like she was crazy. She just looked at her like she was Lexa, her (best?) friend who wasn't always like other kids, but who she liked (best?) anyway.

"On the count of three," Clarke said. "One... two... three!" 

They ripped open the envelopes and pulled out the papers inside. Lexa scanned the page until she saw where it said her teacher's name, along with a room number where she would go on the first day, and on the second page there was a list of all the things that she needed to bring. 

"Well?" Clarke asked. "Who did you get?"

"Mr. Beach," Lexa said, swallowing hard, because nowhere in the letter did it say what _grade_ he taught. 

"Me too!" Clarke said. She threw her arms around Lexa and squeezed, and Lexa set down her letter so she could return the hug, her cheek pressed against Clarke's. She felt her eyes sting and she blinked hard to make the tears go away before Clarke could see them. She didn't want her to know how worried she'd been; Clarke would probably think it was silly, because _she_ had never been worried at all. She'd been sure that they would stay together, that everything would work out. 

Lexa had never been gladder that she was right. 

"Maybe we can go shopping together," Clarke said, "to get all our stuff. If you wanted to, and if Miss Becca would let you. My parents wouldn't mind. They love you."

Lexa tried not to squirm at the word love. No one _loved_ her. Love was weakness, and it would get you killed. You could like people, but when the word-she-wasn't-allowed-to-say-anymore hit the fan, you had to be your own number one. If you cared too much about someone else, you might do something stupid and get yourself killed for them, and then you were dead and they were alive, but obviously if you had to save them they were too weak to survive on their own so had you really done them any favors? 

"Maybe," Lexa said softly.

Clarke rocked sideways, bumping Lexa's shoulder with her own. "It will be fun," she said. She wiggled her hand between Lexa's elbow and her side, sliding it down until their fingers were laced together and she could squeeze Lexa's hand tight, and then a little tighter until Lexa looked at her. "I'll be with you," she said more quietly. "We can look out for each other."

"Okay," Lexa said, squeezing back. She wanted to believe her. She wanted to believe that Clarke could help her navigate all of the things about this world that didn't make any sense, that were too big and too loud and too much for Lexa, but it was hard. In her old life, Clarke would have been a liability. She didn't know anything about surviving in that world... but in this one? She knew a lot more than Lexa did, so maybe... maybe she really could help. Maybe it would be all right.

"You should stay tonight," Clarke said. "Miss Becca practically already said that you could."

"She said I could stay for dinner..." 

"Yeah but it's Friday," Clarke said. "She always says you can sleep over on Fridays." 

That was true. After the first time, when Lexa discovered that spending the night with Clarke wasn't any worse or scarier than spending the day without her, she always said yes when Clarke invited her to sleep over, which was pretty much every weekend all summer. She was almost as used to falling asleep with Clarke at her side as she was to the sound of Anya's breathing on the other side of the room. 

"I'll ask," Lexa said. "Or have your mom or dad ask." Because the rule was that one of Clarke's parents had to tell Miss Becca that it really was okay for Lexa to stay there, since they were the ones that were responsible for her, even if Miss Becca was right across the street. 

"Let's go," Clarke said. She squeezed Lexa's hand one more time before letting go and shimmying down the ladder, already halfway to the house before Lexa's feet hit the ground. 

Mr. Jake was home, and he said of course Lexa was welcome to stay, and did she want pizza, food on the grill, or grilled pizza for dinner? Clarke didn't believe that you could make pizza on the grill, which he seemed to take a challenge, and he got to work as soon as he'd gotten off the phone with Miss Becca. 

"I just have to go get stuff for tomorrow," Lexa said. "I'll be right back."

"I'll come with you!" Clarke said, and Lexa balked. Mr. Jake saved her by saying that he needed Clarke's help with the pizza. Clarke pouted, but she didn't try to insist on going with Lexa. 

Lexa had never invited Clarke into Miss Becca's house; she'd never shown her the room that she shared with Anya or anything like that. It wasn't that she was embarrassed... it was just always kind of noisy and kind of messy (even right after Miss Becca made the littles pick up their toys and stuff) and there was _Murphy_ , so it just seemed better to keep the two parts of her life – the house and Clarke – separate. 

Lexa made sure to check for cars before dashing across the street, racing up the stairs and into her room with Miss Becca's admonishment that there was no need to sound like a herd of elephants at her heels. She closed the door and grabbed the beat-up old backpack that Miss Becca promised they would replace before school started and began to shove clothes in it. She packed enough for two days, because not always but sometimes a Friday night sleepover turned into a Saturday one as well. She packed her bathing suit in case they got to go to the pool, and then grabbed her book in case she had trouble sleeping. 

Anya came in and grinned at her. "I get the room to myself, huh?" she said. She flopped down on her bed, sprawling out as much as the narrow mattress allowed. "Excellent. I'll actually get some sleep without your snoring to keep me awake."

"I don't snore!" Lexa said, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Anya. 

"How would you know?" Anya teased, throwing it back. " _You're_ asleep!" 

Lexa stuck out her tongue, and then laughed when Anya grabbed her and tried to pin her down and tickle her, playful enough that it didn't make Lexa go into survival mode. That had happened once, the first time Anya had done it, and had scared both of them enough that she hadn't touched Lexa again for over a week. 

Lexa let Anya win, tapping on her arm when laughing made it hard to breathe, and Anya let go of her right away, sitting down on the bed beside her. "So did you get a good teacher?" she asked. 

Lexa shrugged. "How would I know?" she asked. 

"I thought maybe Clarke told you," Anya said, shrugging back at her, the motion exaggerated to tease her. 

"How would _she_ know?" Lexa asked. "She hasn't had him before either."

"She could have heard from someone else," Anya said. "I know this may come as a surprise to you, but you aren't her only friend." 

She was pretty sure that Anya meant it as a joke, but the words stung anyway. As if she didn't have enough to worry about with starting school for the first time ever, there was also the possibility that they would get to class and Clarke would meet someone that she liked better than Lexa, and then what would she do? Maybe Clarke was only friends with her because she was the only girl Clarke's age on the street. Octavia was close, but sometimes it felt like there was a _big_ difference between third grade and fifth. Once there were other people for Clarke to be friends with, would she realize that Lexa wasn't worth spending so much time with after all?

Lexa stopped packing, and after a second she started taking things back out of the bag. She'd changed her mind about staying the night.

"Hey," Anya said, nudging her elbow. "Don't get like that. You're her _best_ friend."

"For now," Lexa said. 

"I don't think it's just for now," Anya said. 

"But what if it is?" Lexa asked. 

Anya sighed. "Then you'll find other friends," she said, "but that's not going to happen. Does Clarke really seem like the kind of person who is just going to dump a friend because someone new comes along?"

"I don't know," Lexa said. "I guess not."

"You guess right," Anya said. "Come on. Finish packing. I'm sure she's wondering where you are."

"We're grilling pizza," Lexa said. "But how is the dough not going to fall through?"

"You'll have to go over and find out, won't you?" Anya asked. "Come on, Lex. Smile. Miss Becca and Dr. Abby went to all that trouble to make sure that the two of you were in the same class next year. Be happy."

Lexa looked at her, and then quickly looked away when her eyes filled with tears. 

"Aw, shit," Anya muttered. "Seriously? I can't get anything right today, can I?" She pulled the bag from Lexa's hands and then pulled her down next to her. "They thought it would easier for you if you had Clarke with you," she said. "You'll already have a friend, someone you can look at to know what to do. It's a good thing. Wasn't Clarke excited?"

Lexa shrugged, and Anya shrugged back at her, then wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight, just like Clarke had when they'd opened their letters, and yeah, Clarke _had_ been excited. Maybe Anya was right and she was worrying too much. She shouldn't even care... but when it came to Clarke, it was impossible not to. Clarke believed so hard that they were meant to be friends that she'd never stood a chance. 

"I'll make you a deal," Anya said. "Since you won't be here tonight, I'll read you a chapter now while you finish packing. Okay?"

"Okay," Lexa said. Anya let go of her to reach for the book and flipped to where they'd left off. Lexa didn't get up until they were a few pages in, though, but Anya didn't say anything about it. She was just stuffing her pajamas in when Anya reached the end of the chapter. "Thank you," Lexa said softly. 

"Any time," Anya said. "Don't have too much fun." She winked.

Lexa tried to wink back, but she hadn't quite mastered it yet. She could hear Anya's smothered laughter as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

Lexa nearly balked at the door to the clothing store that Dr. Abby had brought them to. It wasn't as big as the one that Miss Becca had taken her to when she first arrived, the one she'd refused to go into, and there wasn't as many people inside, but she still wasn't sure that it was a place that someone like her belonged. Too many ruffley dresses and bright colors, and...

"It's okay," Clarke said, taking her hand. "I won't let Mom make you try on anything _totally_ hideous." She grinned and pulled Lexa's hand to her chest, drawing an X there with her finger, and why she hadn't used her other hand Lexa didn't know, but she didn't mind. She let herself be pulled inside. 

Once she'd figured out how to look at one rack at a time instead of trying to see everything all at once, it wasn't so bad, and after a little while, it was even kind of fun, picking out things that she thought Clarke might like while Clarke did the same for her. They went into little curtained rooms to try things on, and then came out to show Dr. Abby. Clarke struck silly poses, and when Lexa didn't do the same, she started moving her around like she was a mannequin until she played along on her own, and Dr. Abby took pictures with her phone of the two of them goofing off. By the time they left, they both had big bags of new stuff for school. They made a few more stops, for shoes and then for all of the notebooks and folders and things on the lists that they'd gotten. Lexa was pretty sure that her arms were several inches longer from carrying it all by the time she got home. 

"Do you want to see?" she asked Miss Becca. 

"Dr. Abby sent me pictures," she said, turning from where she was chopping up vegetables for salad to smile at her. "But go ahead and leave the bag there. I'll take all the tags off and get it washed."

"Why do you need to wash it?" Lexa asked. "It's new, so it's not dirty."

"Because sometimes there's chemicals in the material that might make you itchy, and there might be excess dye that could rub off on your skin, too. You don't want to end up turning green or something, do you?"

Lexa shook her head. She put the bag in the laundry room and went back into the kitchen. "Do you want me to set the table?" she asked.

"Is it your turn?" 

"No, but—"

"Then you don't have to. Are your other chores done?"

"Yes ma'am." 

"Then go have fun. There aren't too many days of summer left. Dr. Abby already said you're welcome to come back over if you two aren't tired of each other yet."

Lexa didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

On the first day of school, Lexa woke up with gritty eyes and a sour stomach. She'd barely slept the night before, tossing and turning until Anya had finally come over and rubbed her back, reading an extra three chapters until she finally drifted off, but Lexa was pretty sure it had been after midnight by then. Now it was morning and it felt way too early for the sun to be as bright as it was, and she didn't want to go to school _at all_ , even if Clarke would be there with her. 

She jumped when Miss Becca knocked on the door. "Anya, up," she said, poking her head in. "Before someone else beats you to the bathroom."

Anya groaned and grumbled and finally sat up, her hair a tangled mess. She reached across the space between their beds and poked Lexa. "You're gonna be fine," she said. "Brush your hair and I'll braid it when I'm out of the shower."

Lexa did as she was told, getting dressed in the outfit that she and Clarke had picked out – Clarke's was similar but not the same, they didn't want people to think they were _trying_ to dress alike – and frowning at herself in the mirror because even though she knew she looked okay, that she looked just like everyone else, she didn't _feel_ okay, or like everyone else, because she _wasn't_ , and what if people could see right through her? What if they knew that this was all a disguise? What if she did something, or said something, that gave her away? 

"Sit," Anya said, coming back into the room with her own hair still wrapped up in a towel-turban. She pointed to the floor, and Lexa sat between Anya's knees, trying not to fidget as she brushed and divided and braided her hair, doing something that had to have been pretty fancy because it took what felt like a very long time, and a lot of hair elastics, which Anya picked specifically to match what she was wearing. When she was done she took Lexa to the bathroom (sneaking in just as Murphy dragged out of his room and grinning as she shut the door in his face) and held up a hand mirror behind her so she could see what the back looked like. 

"Whoa," Lexa said. "It's _awesome_." 

"I know," Anya said, grinning. "Just like you. Now go downstairs and tell Miss Becca that I want blueberries in my pancakes, please and thank you. I gotta get dressed."

"Don't get used to this," Miss Becca said, gesturing to the table that was filled with food. "I don't usually do big breakfasts on school days. But the first day is special."

"Anya told me to tell you that she—"

"—wants blueberries in her pancakes?" Miss Becca finished for her. "She _always_ wants blueberries in her pancakes." She turned to smile at her, and when she saw her, her smile widened. "You look wonderful!" she said. 

"Anya did my hair," Lexa said, tugging at the end of the small braid that hung over her left shoulder. 

"I see," Miss Becca said. "She did a great job." She put a plate in front of Lexa – her pancakes had tiny chocolate chips, which she hadn't asked for, but which she loved – and poured her some juice. "We'll have to get some pictures before you go."

Lexa nodded, even though she still didn't really like getting her picture taken. It wasn't good to let too many people have pictures of you; then they might be able to identify you later. She frowned and tried to shake the thought from her head, because it wasn't a useful thought. Not here, not now. She poured some syrup over her pancakes and dug in. 

By the time she was done, the rest of the kids were up, and it was barely controlled chaos as they got ready. Miss Becca got a couple of pictures of her with Anya before Anya ran to catch her bus, and Murphy went next because he was a year older than her and in _middle school_ now, which she was totally sick of hearing about, because he said it like it made him better somehow. 

Finally it was her turn to go to the bus stop, which was on Clarke's side of the street. Miss Becca walked over with her, even though she could have done it on her own, just to take some pictures of her and Clarke together. Lexa was actually relieved when the bus finally came because it meant she didn't have to keep forcing a smile. 

Clarke climbed up first, and Lexa followed her, and they found a seat together at the back of the bus, because they were fifth graders. Clarke slipped her fingers around Lexa's and squeezed, and Lexa squeezed back, sliding her backpack over in her lap to hide their joined hands so that no one else would know that she didn't want to let go, and she was glad that Clarke didn't make her until they had to get up to get off the bus again. 

"This way," Clarke said, leading her through the halls with a confidence that Lexa hoped one day she might have. She kept her back straight and her head up so that no one could see that she was nervous – more than nervous, _terrified_ \- and followed in Clarke's wake. They found their classroom, and inside the desks were arranged in little clusters of four with big name tags taped to them. Lexa's stomach lurched, because what if they weren’t together?

"Here we are!" Clarke said, finding their names before Lexa did. "You're right next to me." She smiled and plunked down into her chair, and Lexa sat more sedately beside her. She sat as still as she could as the rest of the class came in and didn't look around much because she didn't want to give away that she didn't know what was going on or what she was doing, and it wasn't as if she going to recognize anyone anyway. 

They were given their locker assignments – this time not next to each other, because they were alphabetical, and Clarke was a G and Lexa was a W – and put their backpacks in them after emptying their contents into the desks so they would have everything they needed handy. After introducing himself, Mr. Beach had them go around the room and say their names and one thing they had liked about the summer. When it got to Clarke, she announced, "I'm Clarke, and one thing I liked about the summer was that I met my BFF, Lexa." She grinned. 

Lexa bit her lip. "I'm Lexa," she said, grateful when her voice came out loud enough for people to hear. "One thing I liked about the summer was helping Clarke and her dad build a treehouse." 

"Excellent," Mr. Beach said, and then moved on to the next person. When they'd gone all the way around the room, he told them to get out their math notebooks, and began the first lesson.

Right away, they realized that there was a problem. Clarke was left-handed, and Lexa was right-handed, and because Clarke was on Lexa's right, their elbows kept bumping. Clarke leaned over and whispered, "Maybe we should ask to switch," she said. 

"Maybe," Lexa whispered back, but then they both looked down at where their arms rested side-by-side, and without a word, they decided that it was okay, they didn't really mind, and let it be.


End file.
